HONG KONG, March 1 (Reuters) - Chris Munce, one of Australia's best-known jockeys, was convicted by a Hong Kong court on Thursday of conspiring for an agent to accept advantages in a "tips for bets" corruption case.
The court was told that the 37-year-old Munce, who won the 1998 Melbourne Cup on Jezabeel and twice won the Golden Slipper, supplied tips to middlemen who helped him place bets on races in return.
In delivering sentence, Justice Kevin Browne said: "I'm assured without a reasonable doubt that the defendant had entered into a tips for bets arrangement."
The court heard that Munce had passed on racing tips to a third party Chinese businessman, Andy Lau, via an Indian go-between, Dinesh Kumar Daswani. In return, Lau would place bets for Munce.
Munce pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Hong Kong Jockey Club rules bar jockeys from passing on information about their horses or betting on races in which they have a stake.
Munce was caught in an anti-corruption sting last July with $32,000 in cash stuffed into his pockets after a meeting with Lau at a Kowloon Hotel, along with a purported betting slip.
Defence lawyer John McNamara said Munce's actions had "caused no-one any loss -- nor adversely affected anyone".
But Justice Browne said Munce had engaged in "a corrupt arrangement over a period of six months ... that's the criminality", adding that the integrity of Hong Kong horse racing could be affected.
Under the scam, Munce was able to place low-risk bets on his mounts, paying a 30 percent cut to Daswani for any winnings. Lau absorbed all the losses.
The court heard that Munce had supplied racing tips on 36 horses, 18 of which won and eight were placed, a success rate of 72 percent. HK$700,00-800,000 ($102,000) in winnings were paid to Munce for the races, which took place between late 2005 and mid-2006.
Munce was filmed by anti-corruption officers on July 3 last year meeting Lau in a Kowloon hotel and arrested with HK$250,000 in his pockets, which he claimed was given to him by Lau as a "going-away" present.
But Justice Browne said the evidence suggested Lau had paid for "reliable, confidential, insider information" from Munce which was not readily available to the public.
Munce is expected to be sentenced later on Thursday.
